Mount Cook lily (Ranunculus lyallii)—a potential cut flower?

Abstract

Five experiments were undertaken to assess the potential of Ranunculus lyallii Hook. f. (Mount Cook lily) as a cut flower. Three measures of vase life were calculated, and the most useful for this species was found to be the number of days until 30% of flowers plus buds on a stem had senesced. Eleven postharvest chemical treatments (including biocides, commercial preservatives, a wetting agent, and combinations of these) were applied to scapes as pulse or vase solutions, but none significantly extended vase life. However, cool storage (at 3°C) and scape maturity at harvest both significantly influenced vase life. The vase life of scapes cool stored for 6 days averaged 2.4 days longer than the vase life of unchilled controls. Scapes harvested when the terminal bud was starting to open lasted an average of 10.2 days, a gain of 4 days compared with mature scapes harvested with a fully open or senescent terminal bud. Bud opening on scapes occurred in two distinct flushes, 3.5 days apart, and no postharvest treatment significantly affected the length of this gap. Flower quality was higher in buds opening in the first flush. R. lyallii senesced atypi‐cally for the Ranunculaceae; petal wilt rather than abscission was the initial symptom of senescence. There was no evidence that ethylene accelerated senescence, and the ethylene antagonist, silver thio‐sulphate, also failed to delay senescence. R. lyallii has commercial potential as a cut flower.